Social media … mobile content … online video …
Although these marketing channels are getting a lot of attention, another tool has surpassed them in terms of increased usage. And that tool is … research reports.
According to the B2B Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends – North America report, research reports jumped in usage more than any other B2B content marketing tactic this year. In 2012, 44% of B2B companies used research reports, compared with 25% in 2011.
Since more B2B companies are developing research reports, I wanted to offer tips on how to create reports that don’t put your audience to sleep – which seems to be a big problem with B2B reports.
Here are five ways to create research reports that aren’t boring:
1. Think about your audience.
Many B2B research reports contain valuable statistics but fail to explain how this information will affect their target audiences. If you want your audience to relate to your content, you should discuss the results and explain how your audience can apply this new information to improve their businesses. For example, if you conducted an email marketing survey and learned that most marketers don’t check their analytics, your report can contain a section on how marketers can use their email analytics to improve their open and clickthrough rates.
2. Don’t be afraid of putting your most exciting statistics up front.
Many people will want the highlights of your research report, but they won’t want to read the whole thing. So, go ahead and put your most compelling information in your executive summary. If people want more info, they will read more.
Including your most shocking statistics in an executive summary will also help bloggers who want to report on your research but don’t have the time to go through a 50-page document to find the best information.
3. Share the highlights of your research in an infographic.
Creating an infographic and sharing it across your social channels can drive a lot of people to your website to download your complete report. Just remember to put a positive spin on the statistics you include in the infographic. Since infographics are fun in nature, readers don’t want doom and gloom.
4. Reconsider your formatting.
When it comes to B2B research reports, the design is as important as the content. Avoid small fonts, single spacing and long chunks of text, as this can make your content difficult to read. Also consider orientating your document in landscape instead of portrait, as this will allow readers to view an entire page on their computer screen without scrolling. Plus, saving your reports as landscape PDFs makes it easy to share them on sites such as SlideShare, which can greatly increase your readership.
5. Don’t overwhelm your readers.
You can also make your report easier to read by focusing on only one key point per page. For example, include a compelling headline, your original question, a chart showing the results and a brief analysis of the results on one page. If you put too much information on a single page, readers will have a hard time finding the content that they are looking for.
What about you? What do you think makes or breaks a research report? Feel free to share your thoughts below.